Maoist Movement: Why in News?
Recently on April 3, 2021, as many as 22 soldiers were killed and 30 were injured in a naxal attack in Chattisgarh's Sukuma district. In the article below, you will know about the ideology of the Maoists, their origin, their presence in India and how they are posing a threat to the country.
Left Wing Extremism: History
- It all began with Karl Marx. His manifesto included the workers' struggles. His ideology was that the proletariat must unite and rise against the bourgeoisie or the capitalists and establish a welfare state.
- This was carried forward by Vladimir Lenin in the Russian Revolution. He stated that workers and peasants must come together and establish the communist government.
- This was carried forward by Chinese Revolution led by Mao Zedong. This is the birth or origin of the ideology of Maoism or Naxalism adopted in India. Through this ideology he overthrew the earlier regime and established the current communist government of China.
Left Wing Extremism: India
Take a note of the following that established the Left Wing Extremism in India:
The Communist Party of India was established in 1925 but somehow could not come to the front. They left their alignment from Congress after World War in 1939.
- Tebhaga Movement- It started in 1946 and led the peasants to be united
- Telangana Movement- It took place between 1946-1951. This movement united the farmers in the area of Telangana.
- Sino Indian War- This happened in 1962 and gave wind to the Maoist movement in India after our country lost land to China.
- Naxalbari incident- This is a small village in West Bengal where the farmers united and acted under the leadership of Charu Mazumdar and reacted to the Zamindars/ Landlords.
Left Wing Extremism: Phase wise
Phase I- Communist Party of India (M-L) which followed the ideologies of Marx and Lenin was established in 1969 by Charu Majumdar. After the death of Charu Majumdar the CPI (M-L) bacme CPI (L-M) Liberation but maintained the same ideology more or less.
Phase II- People's War Group was established in 1980 in Andhra Pradesh. This was different from XPI (M-L). Also the Maoist Communist Centre of india (Bihar) was established.
Phase III- Andhra Pradesh's PWG and Bihar's MCGI were merged to form CPI (M) in 2004 and since then the Indian Government has declared the Maoists to be the biggest internal security threat to the country.
The ideology of CPI Maoist:
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is rejecting of the Indian democracy and electoral politics. They also term India to be a semi colonial and semi feudal country. They compare it to feudalism. Their way of recourse is through armed struggle from the countryside to later encircle the cities and overthrow the current government.
This ideology is the same as Mao Zedong's in China that led to the establishment of Maoist Government there.
Status of Maoists in India:
- The CPI-M came with the target of mobilizing the farmers but failed to do so miserably. They only hold the support of a few tribals. Far from mobilising peasantry, they have been reduced to seek refuge in the forests of the country to offer them camouflage
- They only engage in Guerilla warfare and are only receiving some support from the tribal people of the Indian states they are taking refuge in.
- They have however not been able to improve on their fighting skills and are still stuck in the Guerilla warfare. They are absolutely unable to offer an alternative governance as in their agenda.
- Maoist insurgencies have evolved over time and they have been countered by many state governments as the law and order is under their control.
- In Spite of differing from what their original agenda and ideology was, the Maoists continue to remain committed to militant insurgency.
States of activity:
CPI (M) claims to be fighting for the rights of the tribes in many areas but they are situated mostly in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal etc.
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